Budva turned out to be a great place for a couple of days by the beach, although I think both Sally and Lizzie were surprised by how many tourists managed to sandwich themselves together on the small beach. (Crazy to think that this is their first abroad beach- ever!) The first night we were desperate for a swim so headed to what seemed to be the nearest and ended up being the dirtiest and ugliest that budva had to offer. At least there was water. That was the main thing. We had a supermarket dinner as it turns out Montenegro is basically english prices for food- unacceptable. We also bought casual drinks, but weren't sure whether we were feeling it or not. A crucial decision came at around 10.30- bed or party. Lizzie stood, vodka and lemonade in hand dubious over whether to throw it away or add more vodka. She added more and then downed it- it was decided we were heading out.
There are some weird rules in Budva which state that loud music outside is prohibited after 1 but bars stay open until 2 which means that all of a sudden the happening place we were in went quiet and everyone wondered off to find a better party. Half an hour later we were drinking cider and playing air hockey in an arcade- not quite how I had pictured the evening. We eventually found a club which seemed to be open... 5 euros entry... we looked disgusted... he added.... but girls get in for free.... thats more like it. Girls also apparently get through the metal detectors at the entry for free to, as all of us beeped but everyone was waved straight through. Inside the clientele seemed like some kind of russian mafia stronghold which made for an interesting evening. But there were some people dancing and some songs we recognized and we made it until almost 4 before we tried not to get lost finding the hostel back in the old town.
The next day was clearly beach day. So, after the most dubious crepes of my life... weird mixture, half a pig of ham and another of cheese, we squeezed ourselves into the smallest opening of sand and chilled for a few hours. Turned out this beach was a lot nicer than the other one. Shame our spot went into the shade fairly soon after our arrival. We gave up when the sun went in altogether around 6.
So, 4 girls and only one shampoo and conditioner means shower time takes a long time, generally long enough for a 2 hour nap, a good few chapters of a book or some music. Pretty sure I managed all three of these by the time we were ready to go out for the dinner at 9. We found a cheap chinese restaurant, apparently the first chinese in Montenegro. I went for noodles with pork and veg, which turned out to be tagliatelle with pork and veg with a slight tang of a tomato sauce. How authentic! But still nice. One of the things that is annoying with travelling is that the unhealthy food is the cheapest and also, in eastern europe, everything is SO meaty... I think we are all getting to the point of craving a lettuce leaf or just some greens in general.
After an unceremonious kicking out of the hostel- what time do we need to check -out? Now. Can we leave our bags for the day ? NO. ideal, we headed to the bus station (which we had definitely arrived into but had no idea how to find again) and spent the afternoon in Podgorica the capital of Montenegro and the newest capital in Europe. To be fair, I can see why most montenegrins live at the coast. I mean, the mountain scenery on the way was fantastic but... the town itself left a bit to be desired. We gave up on sightseeing and spent the afternoon eating ice cream and trying to watch derren brown on the kindle with bad wifi.
That night was our first ever NIGHT train can't believe of all my travels they have never included a single train! We were not sure whether to make seat reservations or not but we went for it and this turned out to be a good choice as sleeping in the aisle getting trampled by smokers the whole night did not seem ideal. We got excited when we boarded and found our seats. It was like a hogwarts train with huge reclining seat and a compartment door and light switch and everything. We then got a little less excited when the woman opposite decided that extra people could fit on her side-not ideal when you sleep and there are extra limbs flying everywhere. I think I got the lucky side of the cabin as the others apparently barely slept at all. Lizzie decided that the aisle was better at one point. Oh and I almost had a border nightmare when the passport checkers just ignored my outstretched hand with a passport so i didn't get a stamp. By the time I had clambered over everyone in the compartment they were almost of the train and I had to yell at them to give me a stamp. I then had to put out with 5 mins of rude comments... what... you think border control is a good time to sleep... the british are always like this... where are your friends.... blah blah blah. Finally I got a stamp and squished back into my allotted 10 cm of sleeping space.
We arrived in Belgrade all feeling worse for wear at 8am, and trecked in the pouring rain to our hostel, which turns out to be basically an apartment with one dorm- we were the only guests! We napped our way into the afternoon (i swear there is more napping than living on this trip!) and then headed out for some lacklustre sightseeing. I dont think the rain helped/ or the night train but I think we were all feeling a bit travelled out. So we got in some cider, used the hostel computer to watch more derren brown and bake-off and chilled until tea time. Had a nice meal ... slightly tainted by the fact that they chased us down the street at the end when apparently Sally had accidentally paid her part in Albanian money- nightmare. That killed the mood and we got back for an early night- well 1am, which seems early these days.
Another day of exploring Belgrade (although cinema has been mentioned more than once so not sure how much exploring will actually get done) and then night train (dubious ) tonight to BUDAPEST!
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Monday, August 26, 2013
24 hours in Albania
Well, its a good job all the others are in the shower queue as it has taken me about 10 years to log into this account. It seems google have so much security I dont even qualify as myself. Awk. Anyway lots to catch up on and not enough time! Here goes... we start 3 countries back in Macedonia at lake Ohrid. After the taxi driver got lost and drove us to sun gate hotel instead of sunny lake hostel we finally made it! beautiful little old town on a lake which is sooo big it might as well be the sea. But more importantly Super comfy beds the softest sheets ever and free ice-cream! We wandered a bit and soon it was time for tea. Not sure how it happened but the other girls managed one and a half whole chickens and I threw in a goulash, plate of beans and kebab and some chips for good measure. The carcasses left on the table were testament to all our efforts! We did skip lunch after all.
Turns out it was choir festival weekend in Ohrid- Ideal! so that night all the choirs were just out in the street doing little mini performances it was great! The next day the competition started and we trekked wayyy out of town to see some of the shows. Don't say we are not cultured! We also managed a cheeky little boat tour with a man who loves the word panorama even more than Laura! We then clambered through a building site to get to a church everyone was talking about only to find that was a different one completely. I also had the pleasure of hearing the worst ever cover of Moves like Jagger in the jazz bar at three in the morning. Mistake. We all loved Macedonia ... weird but good and they have a cool flag, what more could you want in a country! but it was time to move on.
The plan had been to get a night bus from Ohrid to Budva in Montenegro but it turns out this bus only goes every two days and typically we got the wrong day. So instead of chilling and having a lovely time exploring the lake more we decided to trek through Albania on 5 different types of transport to arrive approximately 12 hours earlier than we would have had we waited for the next bus.
Im glad we checked out Albania even if it was just for 24 hours (how many people can say that! The capital, Tirana didn't have many sights persay but we found the best restaurant in town and had drinks, foccacia stuffed peppers and chicken and potato casserole, which turned out to be just chicken and potato, slightly lacking on the casserole...all for the princely sum of 4 euros each. or in fact 3000 leke for the table. We then headed to a cocktail bar and I made the mistake of asking for beer without specifying and was greeted with some huge vat of guiness looking liquid. That went down well- not. We headed back to the hostel where me and laura slept in a tent in the garden to save 4 euros. Sally and Lizzie chose the bed option- they must be made of money!
We were up bright and early- yet again! well I was and had to drag the others out to go find a bus to the border town, not an easy task in a country with no bus stations. Eventually we got on after they tried to charge us double, we were having none of it, and by lunchtime we were at the border. The problem then, was finding a suitable taxi into Montenegro. One guy came over and offered his services, but was promptly beaten to a pulp by another and then he ran away. Great. The fighting guy then came over and tried his luck, but we decided against it when I asked him the time and there was blood all over his knuckles. We crossed the street looking for some saner looking people and chose one. Bad luck for him, his sunglasses had been smashed on the floor in no time by another angry driver. But we felt loyal to this guy... and in the end he ditched us and threw us in a car with another random guy who offered us cigerettes so must be ok. Cliche I know, but I was thinking of the film taken through the whole thing, especially when he argues with the customs officer and was adamant that he was not a taxi. Great
We did however make it in one piece and after another sweaty but picturesque bus, and half an hour wandering trying to find the hostel we had escaped albania and made it to montenegro. And that is where the story will have to end for now as there is a queue of people waiting for the computer. Our train passes start today so who knows where we will be next time! laterz xxx
Turns out it was choir festival weekend in Ohrid- Ideal! so that night all the choirs were just out in the street doing little mini performances it was great! The next day the competition started and we trekked wayyy out of town to see some of the shows. Don't say we are not cultured! We also managed a cheeky little boat tour with a man who loves the word panorama even more than Laura! We then clambered through a building site to get to a church everyone was talking about only to find that was a different one completely. I also had the pleasure of hearing the worst ever cover of Moves like Jagger in the jazz bar at three in the morning. Mistake. We all loved Macedonia ... weird but good and they have a cool flag, what more could you want in a country! but it was time to move on.
The plan had been to get a night bus from Ohrid to Budva in Montenegro but it turns out this bus only goes every two days and typically we got the wrong day. So instead of chilling and having a lovely time exploring the lake more we decided to trek through Albania on 5 different types of transport to arrive approximately 12 hours earlier than we would have had we waited for the next bus.
Im glad we checked out Albania even if it was just for 24 hours (how many people can say that! The capital, Tirana didn't have many sights persay but we found the best restaurant in town and had drinks, foccacia stuffed peppers and chicken and potato casserole, which turned out to be just chicken and potato, slightly lacking on the casserole...all for the princely sum of 4 euros each. or in fact 3000 leke for the table. We then headed to a cocktail bar and I made the mistake of asking for beer without specifying and was greeted with some huge vat of guiness looking liquid. That went down well- not. We headed back to the hostel where me and laura slept in a tent in the garden to save 4 euros. Sally and Lizzie chose the bed option- they must be made of money!
We were up bright and early- yet again! well I was and had to drag the others out to go find a bus to the border town, not an easy task in a country with no bus stations. Eventually we got on after they tried to charge us double, we were having none of it, and by lunchtime we were at the border. The problem then, was finding a suitable taxi into Montenegro. One guy came over and offered his services, but was promptly beaten to a pulp by another and then he ran away. Great. The fighting guy then came over and tried his luck, but we decided against it when I asked him the time and there was blood all over his knuckles. We crossed the street looking for some saner looking people and chose one. Bad luck for him, his sunglasses had been smashed on the floor in no time by another angry driver. But we felt loyal to this guy... and in the end he ditched us and threw us in a car with another random guy who offered us cigerettes so must be ok. Cliche I know, but I was thinking of the film taken through the whole thing, especially when he argues with the customs officer and was adamant that he was not a taxi. Great
We did however make it in one piece and after another sweaty but picturesque bus, and half an hour wandering trying to find the hostel we had escaped albania and made it to montenegro. And that is where the story will have to end for now as there is a queue of people waiting for the computer. Our train passes start today so who knows where we will be next time! laterz xxx
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
from Bulgaria to Macedonia (the land of choreographed fountains)
Hello again, and this time I can actually bring you a blog post on a normal keyboard without the funny I's- ideal! Things have moved on since Istanbul and I'm writing this from a place called Skopje. Points if you can guess where that is! Hint: Macedonia. Hopefully one day, probably when I'm watching Eurovisionas thats the only time the subject would ever come up i'll be able to whip out the fact that I have visited here and everyone will be impressed!
The last three days have been spent in Bulgaria which we decided is a Great country scenery and location wise that definitely deserves a longer visit, but that most of the locals are slightly lacking in the old social skills department. Plovdiv was the first stop, and unlucky for us, the nightbus got in at 6am three hours early so we found ourselves sat in the bus station not sure which way to go running on about 30 mins sleep as the bus stopped what seemed like every 5 minutes for toilets, borders, even a 20 minute duty free shopping sesh at half three- perf!
We made it to the hostel rang the doorbell- no response. Turns out the gate was open. Knocked on the door, no response. Turns out the door was unlocked. And that is how the poor owner awoke an hour or so later to find four random burglars asleep on the sofa in the basement. Luckily he was very chilled (probably still drunk from the night before), kicked a couple of people out the hostel and made room for us. Plovdiv was a really nice city, we climbed to a viewpoint to feel like we had done something with the day and then- more importantly discovered white-grape flavoured beer- delish! In the evening we did a free walking tour and found out that underneath the whole of the main street is an ancient roman arena. They had planned to dig out the whole thing and place glass on top so you can walk down it for 200m but apparently that cost too much. So, you have to make do with one section hidden down some stairs at the end of the street. Still cool! but strange to think that it just goes on under the ground!
Tried some local cuisine- very oily! and very fried! attempted cocktails but Laura informs me her sex on the beach was everything she did not want from a cocktail - not ideal! my rum and coke was just fine, but it didn't beat the cider we found at a corner shop that was blackberry flavoured- seriously- better than Kopperberg! Lazy morning followed by a pizza slice - hugeeeee for 40p! and then a cheeky 2 hour bus to Sofia the capital.
Having heard dubious things about the city, expectations were not high- but when we found a hostel that included a free bowl of spag bol and a beer every night we decided it had got to be worth a stop. Hostel Mostel was deffs the hostel with the mostel.
On our only full day in Sophia we decided some nature was in order and took the tram to a national park and began climbing up up up. Three hours later it was clear that we were pretty high up but, unfortunately, also in dense forest soooo no views there then. Sally had issues with her first nature wee experience but we got there eventually and after 5 hours up and down, and a random encounter with a guy from dundee who had just married a bulgarian on a tram- it was NAP TIME. We wanted to hit up the hostel bar crawl in the eve so lined our stomachs with some more bulgarian specialities. No idea what it was called but most of the offerings seemed to consist of hearty meaty stew type things with potatoes. Nom.
The sights of Sophia took an hour or so and then it was time to test out the 3 euro bottle of vodka- which was actually a success! By the time the bar crawl started the others were mingling like backpacking pros and we spent most of the night apart, but confusing people by pointing at eachother across the room trying to explain the family connections. We were ready to move on to a club by 2 but sadly was informed by the guy in charge that sofia is not a great one for midweek nights- especially in the summer when all the cool people are at the beaches apparently . Nightmare. How we ended up on a drunken kebab hunt im not sure but it was most definitely unsuccessful.
As was getting up in time for a leisurely breakfast before a leisurely walk to the bus station to be leisurely early for our bus. It turned into a nightmare-ish half hour of scoffing down free waffles and juice, running to atms, lying about lost keys and eventually calling a taxi when the receptionist looked highly dubious when I told her of our plans to make the 9.30 bus which we already had tickets for.
Another boring border crossing on the bus and mid afternoon we arrived in Skopje and discovered time had gone back an hour (time zone wise) and about 20 years fashion wise. we took the extra hour as an excuse for a nap. FInally left around 4pm to do some sightseeing- we are only here for one night after all! Sightseeing got off to an interesting start in an irish bar eating mexican food with a banterous waiter who spoke better english than us. But soon we got round to seeing the "beautifully ugly" (thats what the guidebook said) buildings of the city.
Most of this place was destroyed in the 60s by an earthquake so everything here now is either decrepit or brand new. The governement also seem to have a penchant for statues- of anything- anywhere. Oh- and fountains. I have never seen so many fountains . And these are not your average fountains. These are all singing all dancing light-show, musical co-ordinated to the different water patterns and mist while some guy sits on a giant horse at the top. So tacky. So great. We could have watched the routines for hours. (Videos to come on FB.
We had some chocolate cake to recover from the greatness of the fountain and now we're back at the hostel ready for an early night. Tomorrow we head to lake Ohrid to do some water activities- but mostly for the hostel which advertises free ice cream! xxx
The last three days have been spent in Bulgaria which we decided is a Great country scenery and location wise that definitely deserves a longer visit, but that most of the locals are slightly lacking in the old social skills department. Plovdiv was the first stop, and unlucky for us, the nightbus got in at 6am three hours early so we found ourselves sat in the bus station not sure which way to go running on about 30 mins sleep as the bus stopped what seemed like every 5 minutes for toilets, borders, even a 20 minute duty free shopping sesh at half three- perf!
We made it to the hostel rang the doorbell- no response. Turns out the gate was open. Knocked on the door, no response. Turns out the door was unlocked. And that is how the poor owner awoke an hour or so later to find four random burglars asleep on the sofa in the basement. Luckily he was very chilled (probably still drunk from the night before), kicked a couple of people out the hostel and made room for us. Plovdiv was a really nice city, we climbed to a viewpoint to feel like we had done something with the day and then- more importantly discovered white-grape flavoured beer- delish! In the evening we did a free walking tour and found out that underneath the whole of the main street is an ancient roman arena. They had planned to dig out the whole thing and place glass on top so you can walk down it for 200m but apparently that cost too much. So, you have to make do with one section hidden down some stairs at the end of the street. Still cool! but strange to think that it just goes on under the ground!
Tried some local cuisine- very oily! and very fried! attempted cocktails but Laura informs me her sex on the beach was everything she did not want from a cocktail - not ideal! my rum and coke was just fine, but it didn't beat the cider we found at a corner shop that was blackberry flavoured- seriously- better than Kopperberg! Lazy morning followed by a pizza slice - hugeeeee for 40p! and then a cheeky 2 hour bus to Sofia the capital.
Having heard dubious things about the city, expectations were not high- but when we found a hostel that included a free bowl of spag bol and a beer every night we decided it had got to be worth a stop. Hostel Mostel was deffs the hostel with the mostel.
On our only full day in Sophia we decided some nature was in order and took the tram to a national park and began climbing up up up. Three hours later it was clear that we were pretty high up but, unfortunately, also in dense forest soooo no views there then. Sally had issues with her first nature wee experience but we got there eventually and after 5 hours up and down, and a random encounter with a guy from dundee who had just married a bulgarian on a tram- it was NAP TIME. We wanted to hit up the hostel bar crawl in the eve so lined our stomachs with some more bulgarian specialities. No idea what it was called but most of the offerings seemed to consist of hearty meaty stew type things with potatoes. Nom.
The sights of Sophia took an hour or so and then it was time to test out the 3 euro bottle of vodka- which was actually a success! By the time the bar crawl started the others were mingling like backpacking pros and we spent most of the night apart, but confusing people by pointing at eachother across the room trying to explain the family connections. We were ready to move on to a club by 2 but sadly was informed by the guy in charge that sofia is not a great one for midweek nights- especially in the summer when all the cool people are at the beaches apparently . Nightmare. How we ended up on a drunken kebab hunt im not sure but it was most definitely unsuccessful.
As was getting up in time for a leisurely breakfast before a leisurely walk to the bus station to be leisurely early for our bus. It turned into a nightmare-ish half hour of scoffing down free waffles and juice, running to atms, lying about lost keys and eventually calling a taxi when the receptionist looked highly dubious when I told her of our plans to make the 9.30 bus which we already had tickets for.
Another boring border crossing on the bus and mid afternoon we arrived in Skopje and discovered time had gone back an hour (time zone wise) and about 20 years fashion wise. we took the extra hour as an excuse for a nap. FInally left around 4pm to do some sightseeing- we are only here for one night after all! Sightseeing got off to an interesting start in an irish bar eating mexican food with a banterous waiter who spoke better english than us. But soon we got round to seeing the "beautifully ugly" (thats what the guidebook said) buildings of the city.
Most of this place was destroyed in the 60s by an earthquake so everything here now is either decrepit or brand new. The governement also seem to have a penchant for statues- of anything- anywhere. Oh- and fountains. I have never seen so many fountains . And these are not your average fountains. These are all singing all dancing light-show, musical co-ordinated to the different water patterns and mist while some guy sits on a giant horse at the top. So tacky. So great. We could have watched the routines for hours. (Videos to come on FB.
We had some chocolate cake to recover from the greatness of the fountain and now we're back at the hostel ready for an early night. Tomorrow we head to lake Ohrid to do some water activities- but mostly for the hostel which advertises free ice cream! xxx
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Eekıng out my year abroad....
Welcome back loyal readers to yet another edıtıon of my backpackıng adventures. I was at one poınt consıderıng a whole summer ın England after the year abroad, but ı guess that was never goıng to happen. It was a few months ago whılst skypıng my sıster from French Guyana that the ıdea was brought up...
Laura: So Polly, I thınk me, sally and lızzıe (two of my cousıns) are thınkıng of travellıng round Europe thıs summer...
Polly: Sounds great, where are you off?
Laura: Well, we're not really suıre.... can you come wıth us to guıde us wıth your magıcal backpack ways (ım sure she saıd somethıng lıke that!)
Polly.... er yeh! sure, but only for 6 weeks as apparently I have thıs thıng called unı that starts agaın sometıme soon.
It cant be that hard to look after one sıster and 2 cousıns of varyıng levels of ıncompentness for a whıle, can ıt! so here I am ın ISTANBUL! lovıng lıfe! And so far...no major catastrophes.. my lıttle backpackıng traınees seem to be doıng quıte well!
To be faır, they were thrown ın rather at the deep end. The trıp started wıth a 6 hour bus down to London, trtansfer to gatwıck, cheeky sleepover by the check ın desk... fırst flıght to OSLO (and no, ı know what your thınkıng oslo ıs NOT on the way from LONDON to ISTANBUL but ıt was the cheaper flıght!) A lovely 6 hours ın OSLO fılled wıth watchıng people who could afford food and drınk eat the food and drınk whıle we were stıll on the packed sandıwches that had defınıtely looked better when they were packed two days before! Dıd ı mentıon ıt was Sallys fırst EVER Trıp on a plane. Only a small moment of panıc when she almost refused to get on the second one after the apparenty traumatıc fırst one, but she was persuaded eventually.
We got to ISTANBUL 8ısh ın the evenıng and hotfooted ıt to catch the 2 hour bus to the cıty ( guess who dıdnt check whıch aırport we were off to.. just classıcly one ın the wrong contınent!). HUge crush to get the bags on the bus and then even more panıc to get a seat on the bus. The drıver dıdnt allow standıng but luckıly he dıdnt seem to notıce that I was hıdden behınd laura and lızzıe on a 2 person seat untıl the bus had already left we could have probs got away wıth not payıng!
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We are lovıng thıs cıty but I thınk 3 days ıs the ıdeal amount of tıme. Admıttedly we could have got everythıng ın ın 2 but SOME people thınk ıts acceptable to lıe ın untıl 1pm after 2 days of solıd travellıng! The fırst day we checked out all the tourıst sıghts vısıtıng a couple of mosques, the grand bazaar, the spıce market, burger kıng (only for ıce cream so ıt doesnt count!) We even managed a tram rıde wıthout any complıcatıons, and all came away wıth a few too many cheap purses and bracelets... not to mentıon travel trousers! We headed back to the hostel for a bıt of chıll tıme, only to be confronted by a guy called 'tuna' and a lıtre of ıllegal vodka he had just bought.... Laura suggested rıng of fıre ( deffo the bad ınfluence) and thus ensued a whırlwınd tour of mıdweek ıstanbul nıghtlıfe.All the places we vısıted were down a back alley up a dodgy lıft and a further flıght of staırs ... we would have never have found them alone! Plus tuna seemed to know everyone and the free shots were much apprecıated. We got back at 3am havıng spent 3 quıd each on the nıght. SUCCESS.
Yesterday, after another late start and a few hungover pastrıes we made ıt all the way to ASIA on the ferry. We stopped for a muffın, some lemonade and to watch some buskıng before headıng back over to europe just ın tıme to catch the sunset on the ferry. In the evenıng we casually strolled past the many bus loads of rıot polıce... some were wearıng elbow pads- serıously prepared- and went for some pasta- how turkısh! There ıs obvıously a hyuge polıce presence here as our hostel ıs lıterally 200m from the square where everythıng was kıckıng off just a few weeks ago. Today we saw peaceful protesters chantıng and holdıng photos but that was about ıt ın terms of rıot gossıp.
Yet more shoppıng today as we dıscovered the cheap saturday markets and trıed to justıfy ıt by sayıng that everywhere else wıll be more expensıve and that ıts treat day... EVERYDAY ıs treat day. Tonıght I am treatıng the others to yet another backpackıng treat- the nıght bus! There seems to be large levels of concern about the toılet sıtuatıon on the bus but the offıce of the bus company seemed pretty plush so ı hold out a good amount of hope!
And thats about ıt up untıl now... dıet tıme ın Bulgarıa due to the serıous amount of kebabs that have been consumed. See you all ın PLOVDIV! xxx
Laura: So Polly, I thınk me, sally and lızzıe (two of my cousıns) are thınkıng of travellıng round Europe thıs summer...
Polly: Sounds great, where are you off?
Laura: Well, we're not really suıre.... can you come wıth us to guıde us wıth your magıcal backpack ways (ım sure she saıd somethıng lıke that!)
Polly.... er yeh! sure, but only for 6 weeks as apparently I have thıs thıng called unı that starts agaın sometıme soon.
It cant be that hard to look after one sıster and 2 cousıns of varyıng levels of ıncompentness for a whıle, can ıt! so here I am ın ISTANBUL! lovıng lıfe! And so far...no major catastrophes.. my lıttle backpackıng traınees seem to be doıng quıte well!
To be faır, they were thrown ın rather at the deep end. The trıp started wıth a 6 hour bus down to London, trtansfer to gatwıck, cheeky sleepover by the check ın desk... fırst flıght to OSLO (and no, ı know what your thınkıng oslo ıs NOT on the way from LONDON to ISTANBUL but ıt was the cheaper flıght!) A lovely 6 hours ın OSLO fılled wıth watchıng people who could afford food and drınk eat the food and drınk whıle we were stıll on the packed sandıwches that had defınıtely looked better when they were packed two days before! Dıd ı mentıon ıt was Sallys fırst EVER Trıp on a plane. Only a small moment of panıc when she almost refused to get on the second one after the apparenty traumatıc fırst one, but she was persuaded eventually.
We got to ISTANBUL 8ısh ın the evenıng and hotfooted ıt to catch the 2 hour bus to the cıty ( guess who dıdnt check whıch aırport we were off to.. just classıcly one ın the wrong contınent!). HUge crush to get the bags on the bus and then even more panıc to get a seat on the bus. The drıver dıdnt allow standıng but luckıly he dıdnt seem to notıce that I was hıdden behınd laura and lızzıe on a 2 person seat untıl the bus had already left we could have probs got away wıth not payıng!
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We are lovıng thıs cıty but I thınk 3 days ıs the ıdeal amount of tıme. Admıttedly we could have got everythıng ın ın 2 but SOME people thınk ıts acceptable to lıe ın untıl 1pm after 2 days of solıd travellıng! The fırst day we checked out all the tourıst sıghts vısıtıng a couple of mosques, the grand bazaar, the spıce market, burger kıng (only for ıce cream so ıt doesnt count!) We even managed a tram rıde wıthout any complıcatıons, and all came away wıth a few too many cheap purses and bracelets... not to mentıon travel trousers! We headed back to the hostel for a bıt of chıll tıme, only to be confronted by a guy called 'tuna' and a lıtre of ıllegal vodka he had just bought.... Laura suggested rıng of fıre ( deffo the bad ınfluence) and thus ensued a whırlwınd tour of mıdweek ıstanbul nıghtlıfe.All the places we vısıted were down a back alley up a dodgy lıft and a further flıght of staırs ... we would have never have found them alone! Plus tuna seemed to know everyone and the free shots were much apprecıated. We got back at 3am havıng spent 3 quıd each on the nıght. SUCCESS.
Yesterday, after another late start and a few hungover pastrıes we made ıt all the way to ASIA on the ferry. We stopped for a muffın, some lemonade and to watch some buskıng before headıng back over to europe just ın tıme to catch the sunset on the ferry. In the evenıng we casually strolled past the many bus loads of rıot polıce... some were wearıng elbow pads- serıously prepared- and went for some pasta- how turkısh! There ıs obvıously a hyuge polıce presence here as our hostel ıs lıterally 200m from the square where everythıng was kıckıng off just a few weeks ago. Today we saw peaceful protesters chantıng and holdıng photos but that was about ıt ın terms of rıot gossıp.
Yet more shoppıng today as we dıscovered the cheap saturday markets and trıed to justıfy ıt by sayıng that everywhere else wıll be more expensıve and that ıts treat day... EVERYDAY ıs treat day. Tonıght I am treatıng the others to yet another backpackıng treat- the nıght bus! There seems to be large levels of concern about the toılet sıtuatıon on the bus but the offıce of the bus company seemed pretty plush so ı hold out a good amount of hope!
And thats about ıt up untıl now... dıet tıme ın Bulgarıa due to the serıous amount of kebabs that have been consumed. See you all ın PLOVDIV! xxx
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